Last Sunday during Mass, my daughter – who had recently received her first communion – motioned to me that she wanted to receive communion by the hand.
“Sure, if that’s what you want” I said. “But I will not – our hands are not holy – that’s why the Priest is the one who should give us communion”.
My daughter looked blankly at me for a couple of seconds, and then looked back at the priest officiating the Mass. Then, as if having seen the answer to her question, she motioned for me to bend over so she could whisper in my ear.
“Our hands are holy because God made us holy.”
How many times have I forgotten this simple truth.
I have taught and emphasized time and again that God has made us in His image AND likeness. In fact, in a training program I co-authored with a former colleague of mine, we emphasized how God took the pains of creating us with his own hands. In Genesis we read how God created the world and all that is within it with His word – how he spoke all things into being. All things, that is, except for man. The bible teaches us that when God was done creating everything, He formed man out of the soil of the earth and breathed life into Man.
God actually got down on His hands and knees, and with His hands he formed man in His image and likeness.
Imagine this scenario:
Angel: “Uh, Lord, what’re you doing playing in the dirt?”
Lord: “I’m making Man.”
Angel: “That creature must be so special for you to get your manicure ruined.”
Lord: “Special – Yes – very special. Man will have dominion over all things great and small. He shall give a name to all that I created. He will be a reflection of who I am and what I am…”
I’m quite sure the exchange of ideas between God and his angel was much more eloquent than that, but you get the idea.
With a smile of knowledge, Julia confidently said with conviction that “Our hands are holy BECAUSE GOD MADE US HOLY.”
I stared her in the eye, and gave her a tight hug.
Who could argue with reasoning like that?
